willans



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.,

Patented Nov. 10, 1885.

P. w. WILLANS. STEAM ENGINE.

(No Model.)-

(N0 Mbdel.) 3 Sheets.Sheet 2. P. W. WILLAN'S.

STEAM ENGINE.

No. 329,987. Patented Nov. 10, 1885.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3. P. W. WILLANS.

STEAM ENGINE.

No. 329,987. Patented Nov. 10, 1885.

W 1W Wf A JwWZZ 4 N PETERS. mM-nw w. Washinglon, nv cv UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQEO,

PETER WILLIAM VVILLANS, OF THAMES ,DITTON, OOUN TY OF SURREY, ENGLAND.

STEAM-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 329,987, dated November 10, 1885.

Application filed January 5, 1885. Serial No. 152,055.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, PETER VILLIAM WIL- LANS, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Thames Ditton, in the county of Surrey, England, engineer, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steam and other Engines, (for which I have applied for Letters Patent in Great Britain,No. 13,769, dated October 17 1884,) of which the following is a specification.

These improvements apply especially to those engines in which theimpulse is givenin one direction only, the return-stroke being made by the crank. To control the ad mission to and escape of steam from each cylinder of such engines, I mount the piston on a tubular piston-rod, in the interior of which I place a piston-Valve capable of being moved endwise therein. The tubular piston-rod I make with ports through it to act as a slide-valve, while the piston-valve serves as a second slide, and is actuated by the rocking motion of the connecting-rod. The admission of steam to the cylinder may in this way be controlled by the movement of the piston-valve, whichmoves quickly at the end of the stroke of the main piston,while the cut-off is effected by the movement of the piston-rod itself, so that the opening and closing of the ports for the admission of steam to the cylinder are both performed rapidly, and either can be varied without affecting the other. The exhaust I effect partly by allowing the piston to travel past exhaustports in the sides of the cylinder at the end of the stroke, and partly by the movement of the piston-valve uncovering ports in the tubular piston-rod. The engine may be made as a single engine with a heavy fly-wheel on the crank-shaft, or it may be made with two or more cranks and sets of working parts, where starting-power or regular motion is required.

I also make compound engines in the way above described. I prefer to arrange the cylinders tandem fashionthat is, one above the other-and the pistons of the two or more cylinders all on the tubular piston-rod, which serves as the valve; but two orrmore single engines may be placed side by side, the exhaust of one leading to the steam-chest of the next.

I also, by the same means, make steam-en- (No model.) Patented in England October 17, 1884, No. 13,769.

gines in such manner that the steam, after aeting in the cylinder upon one side of the piston, may, during the return-stroke, be passed into the opposite end of the cylinder, and at the next forward stroke this end of the cylinder may be opened to the exhaust or to a condenser.

In the drawings hereunto annexed, Figures 1 and 2 show vertical sections of a compound engine constructed according to myinvention. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of a non-compound engine. Fig. 4 is a sectional diagram View showing how the engine may be constructed so as to transfer steam from the working end of the cylinder of the engine to a transferchamber before allowing it to pass to the exhaust. Fig. 5 is a sectional diagram view showing how a downward pressure may constantly be maintained upon the high-pressure piston of the engine. Fig. 6shows away in which the expansion may be varied by varying the time at which steam is cut 06 from the cylinder.

In Fig. 1 the tubular pistonrod is shown to be at the top of its stroke, and in Fig. 2 at the bottom of its stroke.

The engine is shown and described as an engine having vertical inverted cylinders but the improvements would equally apply to horizontal or other engines.

A is the crank-shaft,mounted in bearings in a suitable stand or casing, B.

O is an upright cylinder fixed to the top of the stand and forming the guide.

D is another cylinder, fixed to the top of the cylinder G. The lower end of this cylinder serves as the low-pressure cylinder, while its upper end, M, serves as a steam chamber or receiver between the high and low pressure cylinders.

E is the high-pressure cylinder, fixed to the top of the cylinder D.

F is a steam-chest mounted above the top of the high-pressure cylinder and supplied with steam from the boiler. I t is continued in order to jacket the cylinder E.

G is a cylindrical jacket surrounding the cylinder D. This jacket may be kept filled with steamfrom the boiler. It forms the jacket as well for the receiver as for the low-pressure cylinder. If desired, the steam-chest F may be continued soas to inclose the whole of the cylinders in one jacket.

I is the hollow piston-rod, carrying the pistons for the high and low pressure cylinders.

- J is the connecting rod by which the lower end of this piston-rodis coupled to a crank on the crank-shaft. necting-rod J is jointed to a circular crosshead fixed upon the end of the piston-rod and working in cylinder 0.

K is a link connected to the lowest piston of the system of piston-valves K K K which work in the hollow piston-rod, and are actuated by the rocking motion of the connectingrod. In the arrangement shown in the drawings an arm, J, on the upper end of the connectingrod gives motion by a link to a lever, L, to which thelink Kis also connected. The arm J might, however, if preferred, be coupled directly by a link to the piston-valve; or other arrangements might be adopted for causing the piston-valve to receive motion from the rocking of the connecting-rod. The pistonrod has ports or openings L, L, L, L L and L formed through it. The annular cavity between K and K is always in communication by port L with the upper side of the highpressure piston, and the annular cavity between K and K with the upper side of lowpressure piston by port L The upper ends of the low and high pressure cylinders are closed,and thcpiston-rod works through packing-rings E D carried by these ends or the packing-rings may in some cases be replaced by long bushes made a good fit on the hollow piston-rod. The three pistons K K K of the piston-valve fit the interior of the hollow piston-rod, and may be made steam-tight by any suitable packing-rings. The crank-shaft turns in the direction shown by the arrow? When the parts are in the position shown at Fig. 1 and the piston-rod is at the top of its stroke, the port L is above the packing-rings E and in the steam-chest, and the piston K of the piston-valveis rapidly moving upward. As soon as the piston K passes the lower edge of port L, the boiler-steam enters the upper end of the high-pressure cylinder by ports L and L", and continues to do so until the port L is closed by passing into the packingrings E For the remainder of the downstroke the steam works expansively in the cylinder. Near the end of the downstroke the piston of the high-pressure cylinder passes beyond ports or openings in the sides of this cylinder, and allows steam to pass off through them from the high-pressure cylinder, as in other engines heretofore made by me. The steam, after passing through these ports, enters the steam chest or receiver M, which, as above stated, may be kept heated by the steamjacket around it. downstroke the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 2, and the piston-valve is rapidly moving downward. On the next upstroke of the piston the piston K of the piston-valve in its downward movement passes the port L The upper endof the con Atthe completion of the and so opens. another exhaust-port for steam to pass from the high-pressure cylinder into the steam chest or receiver M, and this passage remains open nearly to the end of the upstroke, or until it is desirable to close it for the purpose of compression. In the same way,

at each downstroke, steam from the steamchcst M is supplied to the upper end of the low-pressure cylinder D as the piston K moves upward, and by opening the ports L allows steam to pass by the ports L L to the lowpressure cylinder until the port L passes into the packingring D5. At the end of the stroke and during the next upstroke the steam is discharged from the low-pressure cylinder first through ports in the side of the cylinder itself and afterward through the ports L L to the exhaustpipe N, which may, if desired, lead to a condenser.

It will be seen that in the above construction'there is always a downward pressure of steam upon the upper end of the piston-valve, so that a constant pressure is maintained upon the various pins and upon the arm J.

It is not necessary that the piston-valve should be moving upward at the end of the upstroke and downward at the end of the downst'roke. The action may be reversed and the piston-valve be arranged to move upward at the end of the downstroke, as shown in Fig. 3, in which case the engine will revolve in the opposite direction to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The engine shown at Fig. 3 is a simple 2'. 6., non-compoundengine. At the end of the upstroke the'piston-valve is moving down and allows steam to pass from the steam-chest F through the ports L L to the upper end of the cylinder until the port L passes into the packing'ring E The steam in the cylinder then acts expansively for the remainder of the 7 stroke. At the end of the downstroke the piston moves below ports in the side of the cylinder, which communicate, by means of a hollow-belt surrounding the cylinder, with the exhaust-pipe N, and the steam passes from the cylinder to the exhaust direct. During the first half of the upstroke the piston-valve moves upward and affords an exit for the steam through the ports L and L to the exhaust-pipe N.

If it be desired to actuate the engine by water or without expansion, the diaphragm P is not used, and there are no passages L in which steam from the steam-chest F passes to the upper end of the cylinder through the ports L L to effect the downstroke. The steam is cut off when L passes into the packing. At the end of the downstroke the upper piston of the piston-valve, moving upward, first closes the ports L and afterward during most of the upstroke of the piston places them in communication with L by way of the annular cavity between K and K, so that the steam passes into the lower end of the cylinder 0, which forms a transferchamber. During each downstroke the steam passes from the transfer-chamber 0 through the ports L If to the exhaustchamber N. The advantage of this arrangement is that the surfaces of the pistons and of the upper end of the steam-cylinder are never exposed to the temperature of the exhaust-steam, the transfer-chamber O intervening, and in con sequence there is less condensation when the steam first enters the cylinder from the steamchest F. This transfer-chamber may be placed under the single piston of a simple .engine or under either or any piston of a compound engine made with two or more cylinders in order to divide the expansion into several stages.

This system of transferring the steam in single-acting engines from the working to the otherwise idle end of the cylinder may be used in any such engine, whether a hollow pistonrod be used as a slidecase or whether the valve works, as is usual, in an external slide-case.

Fig. 5 is a diagram view of a similar engine, in which the upper side of the high-pressure piston is always open to the steamchest F, so as constantly to maintain a downward pressure upon the piston-rod and keep this rod and the connecting-rod, which couples it to the crank, always in compression. The upper part of the piston-valve K is wide enough to cover both ports L and L when in its midposition, and the stroke of the valve is such that the passage L only is opened for steam and L for exhaust. On the upstroke steam passes from F into the lower end of the high-pressure cylinder through the port L until L passes beyond a recess in the cylinder side and into a part of the cylinder which the piston fits accurately, when steam is cut off, and then for the remainder of the upstroke the steam in the lower part of the cylinder acts expansively. On the commencement of the downstroke the piston-valve, moving upward, closes L and opens L", placing the latter in communication with L The steam then passes, during the downstroke, from the lower end of the high-pressure cylinder to the upper end of the low-pressure cylinder through the ports L L On the next upstroke steam passes from the upper to the lower end of the lowpressure cylinder by the ports L L. The lower end of low-pressure cylinder may be either in direct communication with the exhaust, or it may be a transfer-chamber similar to O in Fig. 4. Itis desirable to construct this form of engine, Fig. 5, of not less than two elements, so that the constant downward pressure on the high-pressure piston of one element is balanced bythat on the high-pressure piston of the other.

Fig. 6 is a diagram view showing how in the engines hereinbefore described the expansion may be varied by varying the time at which steam is cut off from the higlrpressure cylinder. In this arrangement the hollow piston-rod,where it passes out from the upper end of the cylinder, passes through a sleeve which can be moved round. A port or passage, L, is formed through the hollow pistonrod, and the 'top edge of the sleeve is made inclined, so that by turning the sleeve round a higher or lower part of it is brought opposite the port L. In this way the point in the stroke of the piston at which this port is closed can be varied as desired. The turning of the sleeve can be effected either by hand or by the governor of the engine, or the upper part of the piston may be turned and the sleeve re main stationary.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is 1. The combination of a cylinder, a piston working therein, a hollow piston-rod carrying the piston and having steam-passages in its sides, a crank-shaft to which movement is imparted by the piston-rod, and a piston-valve moving endwise in the hollow pistonrod and opening and closing the steam-passages in its sides, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of a cylinder, a piston working therein, a tubular piston-rod having ports in its sides, a rocking connecting-rod from the piston to a crankshaft, a pistonvalve moved endwise to and fro within such tubular piston-rod to open and close the ports formed in it, and means of transmitting mo tion to the piston-valve relatively to the hollow pistonrod by the connecting-rods rocking motion, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination of a cylinder, a piston working therein, a hollow pistoirrod carrying the piston and having ports in its sides, a crank-shaft, a connecting-rod by which movement is imparted from the piston-rod to the crank-shaft, a piston-valve moving endwise in the hollow piston-rod to control the admission of the fluid to the cylinder and its exhaust therefrom, and mechanism connecting the piston-valve and the connecting-rod, and by which this valve is moved endwise in the piston-rod, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination of the tubular rod I with ports in its sides, a piston carried thereby, a cylinder, E, in which the piston works, a connecting-rod, J, a crank-shaft, A, a pistonvalve, K K", a connecting-rod by which it is moved to and fro, and exhaust-ports in the side of the cylinder past which the piston moves at the end of its stroke, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination of the tubular rod I with ports in its sides, pistons of different diameters carried by such rod, cylinders in which they work, a rocking connecting-rod, J, a crank-shaft, A, and piston-valves moved to and fro by the rocking of the connecting-rod to open and close theports in the tubular rod, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. The combination of the tubular rod I with ports in its sides, pistons of different diameters carried by such rod, cylinders in which they work, a rocking connecting-rod,

IIO

J, a crank-shaft, A, piston-valves moved to and fro by the rocking of the connecting-rod to open and close the ports in the rod, and the steam-jacket G, enveloping the exterior of the cylinders, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7. The combination of the tubular rod I with ports in its sides, pistons of different diameters carried by such rod, their cylinders, a rocking connecting-rod, J, a crank-shaft, A, piston-valves moved to and fro by the rocking of the connecting-rod to open and close the ports in the rod, and exhaust-passages in the sides of the cylinders past which the pistons move at the end of their stroke, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

8. The combination of the tubular rod I with ports in its sides. pistons of different diameters carried by said rod, their cylinders, a rocking connecting-rod, J, a crank-shaft, A, piston-valves moved to and fro by the rocking of the connecting-rod to open and close the ports in therod, and intermediate receivers between the cylinders with or without the exhaust-passages in the sides of the cylinders past which the pistons move at the end of their stroke, substantially as and for the purpose set forth;

9. The combination of a cylinder, E, a piston working therein, a tubular rod, I, carried by the piston, apiston-valve, K K a crankshaft, A, a connecting-rod, J, the arm J extending therefrom, and the interposed lever mechanism for giving increased travel to the piston-valve, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

10. The combination of a cylinder, E, a pistonworking therein, a tubular rod, I, with ports insits sides, and a piston-valve, K K, moved to and fro within the rod and formed, substantially as described,to control the admis sion ofsteam to the working end of the cylinder, and to allow the steam to pass to the opposite end of the cylinder without expansion at the end of the stroke and on the next forward stroke to allow this steam to pass to the exhaust or to another and larger cylinder, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

PETER WILLIAM WILLANS.

Witnesses:

J. WATT, J OHN DEAN,

Both of 17 Gracechurch Street, London. 

